Londoner on Lime bike chases 'muggers' in taxi for 2.5 miles while on phone to police
Andreas Gündüz used a Lime bike to chase two mugging suspects who got into a black cab in Soho on 6 July.
Watch: Lime bike rider chases 'muggers' 2.5 miles across London while on phone to police
A Londoner on a Lime bike who pursued two suspected muggers escaping in a black cab has said he is not a hero after he was praised for his actions.
Andreas Gündüz, 30, used his body cam to film his 10-minute-long chase of the two suspects while he was on the electric hire bike.
He was cycling along Dean Street in Soho, central London, at about 9.25pm on Saturday evening when he saw the two men running away, with one pushing another man who had attempted to stop them to the ground.
Gündüz followed the men until they got into a black cab, then continued to pursue the taxi for 2.5 miles.
Once it was on the move, he called the police to report a crime and remarkably managed to stay within range of the vehicle and on the phone to the call handler, before the taxi finally got out of range and the suspects escaped.
He posted his epic pursuit video on TikTok, where users were quick to praise him for his bravery.
But Gündüz, a sales manager from Bermondsey, told Yahoo News UK on Tuesday: "I'm not a hero."
He said: "I wasn't planning to physically stop them. All I did was follow them on a cycle. It's not that heroic to chase someone on a Lime bike, I just think everyone could do that.
"Everyone's got the ability to do a little bit to make a difference and if everyone did a little bit then obviously stuff like this would happen much less."
Gündüz said it was unclear if the man pushed to the ground at the start of his chase was the victim of a mugging or someone trying to stop the two men.
"I was already on the Lime bike, I just saw them running and it caught my eye," he said.
"It's absolutely unbelievable the amount of phone snatching and broad daylight crime that goes on. I saw it and I just thought I can follow it and at least take evidence."
Early in the chase, he stopped at an alleyway the two men had run down in case it was a dead end.
"I was conscious that if they saw me chasing them they could turn around and obviously maybe attack me. But once they were out of that alleyway they were looking to run away, they weren't looking to fight so it's almost no risk for me to follow them, other than for me falling off the cycle which nearly happened a couple of times."
After the men got into the cab, the video shows Gündüz attempting to call the emergency services - his first phone doesn't work so he calls on his second phone and gets through.
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Despite cycling furiously to keep up with the taxi, he manages to give the call handler the vehicle's number plate and its badge number, and even a description of the two men, who he said were white and in their 20s, one of whom had a "s**t man bun".
When the call handler tells him the police response time will be 15 minutes, Gündüz says: "Well, I can't follow them forever.
"I don't think I can follow them for 15 minutes, they're gonna get away from me, I'm getting lucky with the lights at the moment."
At one point a police car does pass close by with its sirens blaring but it goes in a different direction.
The chase took him through Goodge Street, Tottenham Court Road, Tavistock Square, Euston Station and all the way north to Camden.
At the end of the video, with the chase over, Gündüz tells the camera: "We tried, better luck next time."
He said he will provide the footage to the police. Yahoo News UK has approached the Metropolitan Police for comment.
Gündüz was hailed as a hero on TikTok, with one user commenting: "Elite Lime bike riding skills."
Another wrote: "Mate, you are unbelievably amazing to do all that. We need more people like you."
